Capt. Mike & Capt. Jared having been fishing the Clearwater Beach, Dunedin, and Tampa bay areas over the past week with excellent results. Bait has been hit or miss with the frequently changing water temperatures but with persistence, thredfin herring, spanish sardines, and scaled sardines are being found, typically in deeper water near structure such as channel markers. Snook fishing has been great with many quality fish brought to the boat, having the correct bait can make or break the fishing. The above mentioned baits have been the key to success, fishing it near man made structures or mangroves with good moving water has produced many slot and over slot fish.
Trout continue to be abundant and ready to eat. Baits such as scaled sardines (whitebait), pinfish, and shrimp have all been working well. Free line or use a float with these baits, depending on water depth, near grass flat edges or oyster bars for the best results. Many large trout over 20 inches are still being caught, we find fish in the 16-18 inch range to be the best for eating as they provide a good amount of meat without killing the breeding fish, which are typically 20 inches or more in length.
Redfish are being caught here and there but still aren’t being found in large numbers. We expect to see this begin to change in the coming weeks.
Capt. Ethan has been successful fly fishing for snook around lighted docks. Finding dock lights with moving water can be essential to finding feeding fish. White bait fish patterns typically work best after a stealthy approach to the dock has been made.
